Concern growing for killer whale carrying dead baby for more than two weeks

J-35 pushes her dead calf in the waters off B.C.'s coast. The orca has been keeping the deceased baby afloat for more than two weeks.

Michael Weiss / Center for Whale Research

For 17 days the killer whale known to scientists as J-35 has been carrying the carcass of her dead calf.

Now, concerns are growing about what sort of impact that may have. The whale was spotted on Wednesday afternoon with the J-pod of orcas.

“We have obvious concerns about the displacement of her behaviour away from foraging and feeding towards carrying her calf, and concerns over the length of time this behaviour continues,” said Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) killer whale researcher Sheila Thornton.

The calf was born July 24, but died shortly afterward. The whale’s mother has been carrying it ever since its death.

Wednesday’s spotting was the first time the pair had been seen since last week.

This comes as scientists are focusing in on helping another orca in the pod, J-50. The sick three-and-a-half-year-old whale has lost significant weight and is feared to have an infection.

WATCH: Scientists from both sides of the border are undertaking a mission to save “J50”

Government officials on both the United States and Canada sides of the border have approval to test the whale and the United States has approvals to feed the whale a fish that has been prepared with antibiotics in it.

Crews are still waiting to conduct tests on the whales, and are being delayed by high winds and poor visibility due to fog.

“It is best if it is quite calm. We can operate in calm winds. The challenge is keeping track of the whales,” said Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

“What we need to do is match the course and speed of the whales and then move very calmly in so we don’t disrupt them.”

Scientists are still not sure why the whale has lost so much weight and believe an infection could be one of the problems. One of the great concerns for the whale is that it is part of the endangered southern-resident group of orcas that have declined to a population of only 76.

The population of southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea was recorded at 98 in 1995, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).